During the operation of an automotive engine, a drive belt is typically used to power and operate various accessory devices. One of these accessory devices is typically an automotive alternator, which provides electrical power to the automobile. While several arrangements of drive belts are in use, the serpentine arrangement, which drives several accessory devices, is currently most favored. Serpentine arrangements typically include a drive pulley connected to the crankshaft of the engine (the “output device”) and a drive belt trained about the drive pulley. The drive belt is also trained about one or more conventional driven pulleys, which are connected to the input shafts of various accessories devices (the “input device”).
Most conventional driven pulleys are made from a one-piece design with no over-running capabilities. In other words, the conventional driven pulleys are rigidly mounted to the input shaft and are incapable of allowing relative rotational movement between any section of the driven pulley and the input shaft. As a result of the lack of any over-running capabilities and of the generation of significant inertia by the accessory, relative slippage between the drive belt and the driven pulley may occur if the drive belt suddenly decelerates relative to the input shaft. The relative slippage may cause an audible squeal, which is annoying from an auditory standpoint, and an undue wear on the drive belt, which is undesirable from a mechanical standpoint.
In a typical driving situation, the drive belt may experience many instances of sudden deceleration relative to the input shaft. This situation may occur, for example, during a typical shift from first gear to second gear under wide open throttle acceleration. This situation is worsened if the throttle is closed or “back off” immediately after the shift. In these situations, the drive belt decelerates very quickly while the driven pulley, with the high inertia from the accessory device, maintains a high rotational speed, despite the friction between the drive belt and the driven pulley.
In addition to the instances of sudden deceleration, the drive belt may experiences other situations that cause audible vibration and undue wear. As an example, a serpentine arrangement with conventional driven pulleys may be used with an automobile engine that has an extremely low idle engine speed (which may increase fuel economy). In these situations, the arrangement typically experiences “belt flap” of the drive belt as the periodic cylinder firing of the automotive engine causes the arrangement to resonate within a natural frequency and cause an audible vibration and an undue wear on the drive belt.
The disadvantage of the conventional driven pulleys, namely the audible squeal, the undue wear, and the vibration of the drive belt, may be avoided by the use of an over-running clutch pulley instead of the conventional driven pulley. An over-running clutch pulley allows the pulley to continue to rotate at the same rotational speed and in a same rotational direction after a sudden deceleration of the drive belt. In a way, the over-running clutch pulley functions like the rear hub of a typical bicycle; the rear hub and rear wheel of a conventional bicycle continue to rotate at the same rotational speed and in the same rotational direction even after a sudden deceleration of the pedals and crankshaft of the bicycle. An example of an over-running clutch pulley is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,598,913 issued to the same assignee of this invention and hereby incorporated in its entirety by this reference.
Since many customers of new automobiles are demanding longer lives, with relatively fewer repairs, for their new automobiles, there is a need in the automotive field, if not in other fields, to create an over-running clutch pulley with increased wear resistance. While forming or treating the entire over-running clutch pulley to have a specific surface microhardness will resist wear of the over-running clutch pulley, these processes may increase the costs and, in some cases, the weight of the over-running clutch pulley. This invention provides an over-running clutch pulley with features intended to increase wear resistance, while minimizing the costs and weight of the over-running clutch pulley.